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Bluesound Node 2021 DAC - I sold my Denafrips Ares II

I assembled my system last summer, after 20 odd years in the hifi wilderness. I’ve never been a vinyl guy, so wanted all the convenience of streaming, plus a CDP for my old collection.

I went for the latest iteration of the Bluesound Node - N130, a Naim Nait 5si and a pair of Quad S2 speakers, and Audiolab 6000CDT.

From reading various forums, watching YT videos, you know the script; I convinced my self that I needed an external DAC, as the majority view seemed to be that the BS Node DAC wasn’t very good. As I hadn’t owned hifi since the late 90s (Naim Olive) bi-amped system and Audo Alchemy DDE, I had no reference for how DACs sounded these days.

Anyway, in my new found conviction that I must purchase an ext. DAC, I purchased a Denafrips Ares II. Got it, plugged it in, and didn’t look back. I was content, it sounded good.

Then, about 2 months ago, I was fiddling around inside the Bluos app, with the subwoofer crossover, with a mind to buying a sub to supplement the LFs on my little Quads, and I had the belated brainwave to a/b the Node DAC and the Denafrips. I whipped out some spare ICs and off I went.

OK, I felt like such a fool, really stupid - I a/b’d for literally hours, trying to convince myself that the Ares II was night and day difference - it must be right? The Node DAC is sub-par, not good enough, mediocre, if things I read were correct.

But, in my system, to my ears, this wasn’t the case; I had difficulty discerning any significant improvements, certainly not £800 (£600 pre-owned) worth of difference.

I’m not knocking the Ares II, but in my system, the cost and the difference it made - and the difference between it and the much maligned Node DAC could not be justified sitting in my system at that cost.

Feeling like a complete tool, for rushing headlong in to the DAC game, I re-sold the Denafrips, bought a REL T5x and here I am.

I’m not going to look a further fool and say the Node DAC is the best, but i feel it is criticised unduly, at least the newest version at any rate.

Thanks for reading, I’m not sure this is a cautionary tale, but I just thought the experience worth sharing

 

 

128x128painter24
mr_m
1,900 posts
 

I've had a original Node2 for 5 years now, and it has been mostly glitch free. It had a few connection problems in the beginning, but with successive updates from Bluesound, it has been running perfectly.  My suggestion  to all Node users is to get any and all updates when offered. 

painter24's avatar
painter24 OP
278 posts
 

Hi, 

Just one last share from me in this thread; not related to the Ares II but the Node and the effect of using its sub-out and inbuilt crossover. 

The REL was a new experience for me, I've never owned a Subwoofer before. That was an eye (or ear) opener in and of itself, but initially I hooked it up via the Nait 5si speaker outputs and the hi level connection on the REL, which was great, no problem. Took a bit of trial and error blending the REL in with my mains, but no headaches. 

But the thing that got me here in the first place; playing around with the cross-over in the Node was something I really wanted to try. I tried the first connection method, because that's what REL recommend, and this seems to be the majority consensus.

I lived with this for a while, but like an itch you have to scratch, I really wanted to try the low level RCA connection, from the Node, utilising its subwoofer settings/crossover.

Found a pre-owned 5m Chord Clearway sub RCA lead from you know where, for a steal and set everything up.

I'm not going to say that the low-level connection is better than a feed direct from the amp, probably not, but I didn't set out to compare. What I wanted to explore was what effect cutting the LFs from my amp/speaker's workload would have. To me, after tweaking the REL crossover/volume settings, and getting it to blend with my mains, with a Node crossover at 80hz, the bass reinforcement I was getting just sounded great to me.

The real surprise for me (this is probably old news to most vets on Audiogon, but a fresh experience to me), was the change to what I was now getting from my Quads, obviously due to the decreased workload on my amp, and also the Quads.

To be honest, I was shocked. I won't spout a load of hyperbole, just to say, the Quads just seemed to be working more effortlessly, they sound less uptight, if that makes any sense whatsoever. Added some clarity & smoothness. I find it really difficult to vocalise this stuff while at the same time trying not to sound full of BS. Hope I've succeeded 😊

Anyway, thanks so much for everyone's thoughts and for sharing your experiences, I've really enjoyed it. Happy listening! 👂👍😊

 

ouellette25
6 posts
 

 Those who are pairing Bluesound Node with Ares II and are wondering if they can have a better sound by changing the streamer, I just A/B my Node 2i with an Ifi Zen Stream I purchased today: there is a noticeable improvement in sound. It's more open with much stronger bass with the Ifi. However, Bluesound has the best app, so it's a matter of what is important for you: sound or app

 

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voodoolounge
207 posts
 

I just installed the Node to a Mcintosh C29 streaming Qobuz it sounds sweet.

kitmosabe23
1 posts
 

I usually make do with what i have and can afford, I ran the bluesound node / Ares via USB (audioquest cinnamon usb was on sale) using deezer hifi and Amazon HD… the RCA out goes through an Analog Rotel RE 860, the RCA out is split into 2 : they go into 2 identical AVRs Yamaha RX V640 RDS (using DVD digital input instead of the analog CD) I do this because a samsung s95b is connected to the bluesound for home theatre purposes. a Kef psw1000 is connected to the blusound as well as the avr 1. Avr 1 is a 6.1 system with rock solid speakers in fronts and sony ht golfball speakers as surround (X3) Avr 2 is identical. they both have B speakers (4 in total also rock solids) so 14 speakers and 2 subs (the other subwoofer is just a philips woox tech in AVR 2)

 

 

my reference tracks are Kaya 40th anniversary- bob marley, david bowie space oddity and take a look around by limp bizkit for the ride and cymbals.

 

while RE860 is on bypass mode no eq

 

the denafrips performs very well than the bluesound as everyone describes

 

purely by accident that i discovered by maxing treble and half bass on the Blusound app (while using the internal DAC) and turning On the equalizer to Normal mode that i would achieve a the sound i was looking for. I could hear all the guitars so clearly and that as a drummer i was satisfied with the realistic sound of metal cymbals, hi hats and bass drum. 

 

Lynch mob and cypress hill sound as ive rediscovered something id enjoy…. even further the 2000 ma neyo, nellie, flo rida (low)tracks were too my liking

 

Megadeth (psychotron) and mettalica enter sandman was bright as i wanted.

 

i could not achieve this with denafrips ares ii because it dis not have that extra tone boost.

 

volume set -65 yamaha is not that loud. the analog eq provided a volume boost that I DONT understand. It Just matched well with the n130 settings with sub. 

 

all equipment are second hand from Thrift shop except for the Node and DAii (ebay)

 

the bluesound will be staying. the audioquest cinnamon usb is in its way back to amazon.

 

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